For those of you who aren't familiar with this challenge, The 200 Challenge is something that I started in February with the goal of spending less on groceries in 2010. I set my goal at $200 for groceries per month, and several others have joined in! I would be thrilled to have you along on this challenge too, so if you want to find out more, you can read all about it here.
I meant to post more updates during the month of March, but life sort of got in the way, so oh well. After a bit of discussing with my husband, I did make a new adjustment to my grocery budget which was taking diapers out of the grocery budget category for now. Even though I usually buy my diapers for pretty cheap (about $3-5 per pack), we felt like we needed to cut this out for now. I will still be continuing to buy diapers for as cheap as possible, but taking them out of the budget will allow for me to do better at buying a bunch of them when they're on sale so that I can stockpile them for cheap, and spend less in the long run.
Now for the total for the month of March. Out of my $200.00, I actually spent $199.98. That's a few cent worse than last month. I feel like I really didn't plan as well during March, because things just got so crazy, and I got behind, and I ended up needing things that I hadn't planned for. I still feel good knowing that we are controlling our spending though and we are conscious of what is going out of our pockets. Now I have April to look forward to...hopefully I will do better. Here's a list of meal ideas for April. It's not complete yet, but I will plan more as I see what else needs to be used from my pantry after I make all of these meals.
Fresh Veggie Quesadillas
Baked Ziti, Steamed Broccoli, Rolls
Bean, Rice, & Veggie Casserole
Leftovers
Chicken Rice Casserole, Salad
Baked Potatoes
Build your own: taco, burrito, or salad
Grits, Eggs, Biscuits
Rice w/Stir Fry Veggies
Mac & Cheese, Sweet Potatoes, Biscuits
Black-Eyed Peas, Pasta Salad, Mashed Potatoes
Waffles
Homemade Pizza, Salad
Veggie Pasta
Mexican Layer Casserole
Loaded Baked Potatoes
Pinto Beans, Green Beans, Mashed Potatoes
Sesame Teriyaki w/Veggies
How did you do? What do you plan to do different in April? Blog about it anytime in April them come back here and link up!
2 comments:
I plan on joining you this month for the $200 challenge, with the caveat that it won't include diapers or toiletries for now (or my daughter's 3rd b-day supplies and food this month!). I'm going to see how I do on just food alone and see if I can make it, and then see if I can add in toiletries later. I'll blog about it soon! Thanks for the inspiration!
I plan on joining in next month. I actually only want to try and spend around $150 so we'll see how that one goes.
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